In 2012, the coal-fired PSEG Power Bridgeport Harbor Station, operating a total of 561 hours, emitted 0.33 pounds of mercury while the state’s trash-to-energy plants collectively emitted 48.52 pounds of mercury, DEEP figures show. That’s enough mercury to contaminate 28.8 million fish, according to Professor Robert Mason of the marine sciences and chemistry department, at UConn’s Avery Point campus in Groton.

Photo: File Photo, ST

In 2012, the coal-fired PSEG Power Bridgeport Harbor Station,...

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Sally Holmes protests in front of the gate of the PSEG coal plant on Atlantic Street in Bridgeport Saturday, August 4, 2012. Holmes and other activists marched from City Lights Art Gallery to the Bridgeport Harbor Power Station where they demonstrated against the use of fossil fuels and in favor of clean energy and green jobs.

Jayson Castillo, 23, of Great Neck, NY, wears a Bill Finch mask during a rally in front of the gate of the PSEG coal plant on Atlantic Street in Bridgeport Saturday, August 4, 2012. Castillo and other activists marched from City Lights Art Gallery to the Bridgeport Harbor Power Station where they demonstrated against the use of fossil fuels and in favor of clean energy and green jobs.

Greenpeace activists deploy 40 ft x 20 ft banner reading “Shut it Down - Quit Coal,” on the Bridgeport Harbor Generating Station coal elevator in Bridgeport, Connecticut on February 17, 2011. The activists and banner messaging go with their demand to shut down the aging and dirty coal-fired power plant. The Bridgeport Harbor Generating Station is an aging, inefficient plant that endangers the health of Bridgeport residents, including the children attending the six schools located within a one mile radius. Nationwide, smokestack pollution from coal-fired power plants kills more than 13,000 people per year according to the Clean Air Task Force– a rate of one person every forty minutes. Photo by Greenpeace

Photo: Greenpeace, ST

Greenpeace activists deploy 40 ft x 20 ft banner reading “Shut it...

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Ana Ahmeti, of Woodstock, IL, protests in front of the gate of the PSEG coal plant on Atlantic Street in Bridgeport Saturday, August 4, 2012. Ahmeti and other activists marched from City Lights Art Gallery to the Bridgeport Harbor Power Station where they demonstrated against the use of fossil fuels and in favor of clean energy and green jobs.

A landmark plan by the Obama administration to reduce power plant emissions by 30 percent is pleasing environmentalists, but it's unclear if stricter standards will shutter Bridgeport's towering coal-burning electric plant.

New rules proposed Monday by the federal Environmental Protection Agency would establish carbon emission standards for states, not individual plants. The rules would force states to bring power plant emissions to 30 percent below 2005 standards by 2030.

Particle pollution, nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions would have to be reduced by more than 25 percent.

Whether that means the Bridgeport coal-fired plant's days are numbered is not clear because a variety of measures -- greater energy efficiency and increased use of solar, wind or natural gas, for example -- could be enough to meet the standards.

"We don't really know," said Kim Teplitzky, a spokeswoman for the Sierra Club, referring to the fate of the Bridgeport plant.

"The new plan is structured so it sets state limits; Connecticut is already well on its way anyway," Teplitzky said.

In fact, the nine-state Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, which includes all of New England, New York, Maryland and Delaware, has collectively reduced emissions by 40 percent since 2005. The program incorporates a cap-and-trade program in which carbon credits are sold and the proceeds are used to invest in clean energy projects.

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Bridgeport Power Station facts:Red and White Smokestack is 498 feet highProduces 410 megawatts of powerCan power 500,000 homes from Greenwich to BridgeportBurns coal Began operating in 1967600 coal-fired plants nationwidePSEG pays over $1 million a year in taxes on the power plant; number four on Bridgeport's grand list.Greenpeace claims it spews thousands of tons of harmful gas and particles into the air each year

Activists ranging from Greenpeace to the NAACP have long argued the Bridgeport coal plant is a health risk and have demanded it be closed. Some hope new emission standards will make the plant too unprofitable to operate.

Still, the proposed rules were hailed Monday as the most comprehensive step ever to combat climate change. Coal plants account for the largest single source of the nation's greenhouse gas emissions.

"It is our solemn duty to leave the world a better place for us having lived in it," said Gov. Dannel P. Malloy.

"To not act would be to abandon our children and our children's children to a planet that is unsustainably sick. I commend President Obama and the EPA for the Clean Power Plan they proposed today, which signals to the world that we will lead by example and reduce carbon pollution, clean up our air and begin curing the planet," Malloy said.

Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch, who also serves as co-chairman of the U.S. Conference of Mayors Energy Independence and Climate Protection Task Force, said the city is already reducing its carbon footprint.

"We are investing in cleaner energy sources that will help make our city a better place to live, work and raise a family," Finch said, pointing out that the city's green energy efforts include placing up to 9,000 solar panels on a former landfill site across the street from Seaside Park beach.

Opponents argued that coal plants can operate efficiently and safely and predicted the proposed regulations will cost the U.S. economy billions.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently released a report saying Obama's proposed emission standards could lower gross domestic product by $50 billion annually.

Michael Jennings, a spokesman for the Public Service Enterprise Group, which owns the Bridgeport plant, said the company prefers a market-based program to reduce emissions.

"While we would have preferred Congressional action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from power plants through an economy-wide market-based mechanism, we are supportive of a rule that incents energy providers to reduce carbon emissions in a reasonable timeframe," Jennings said in a statement.

"We believe a well-crafted rule can provide the electricity generation industry regulatory certainty ... We support a final program that provides flexible, cost-effective regulations that build on efforts already taken by New Jersey and other states to reduce emissions," he said.

The Bridgeport plant, which only operates during peak power demand, is the only coal-fired plant in Connecticut. It can provide power for more than 500,000 homes from Bridgeport to Greenwich.

Several other Connecticut electric plants, including one at the Bridgeport Harbor Station, burn natural gas. The Millstone Power Station in Waterford is nuclear.

Under the proposed rule, which still must undergo a public comment period and survive expected legislative assaults, states are given flexibility to design a power mix that includes multiple sources, energy efficiency strategies and the ability to work together to reduce emissions.

Susan Coakley, executive director of the Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships, said many states are already reducing carbon emissions.

"The Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions have been showing, through smart energy efficiency programs, policies like energy codes and appliance standards, and the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, that states can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining strong economic growth," Coakley said.

"The time to debate the reality of climate change has passed --and the moment for strong action to slow its course has arrived. Climate change is happening now and it is affecting people and livelihoods not just in faraway places but right in our backyards," Klee said.

Klee said Connecticut has already made progress in reducing carbon emissions from the power sector.